Brian's GBZ Ver.2 (w/Custom boards!)

[1461748123]

Hello guys!
I've made a post about my current build a while ago, and now I've decided that will be a prototype and I will be making a version 2 using all custom boards and provide more features compare to my version 1. Check my prototype v.1 as well!
Big thanks to @Kite for giving me the idea and providing me the template that require for making the boards! Check out his post: http://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=243

I will use a pi zero as the brain for this build. Pi zero is small enough so I don't have to sacrifice the cartridge slot, and no need to worried about overheating as well.
The goal for this build is not only building a gaming device, but also creating a modular hacking device that can easily swap function by switching between cartridges. Currently I'm planning to make a wireless hacking module and a RFID hacking module. Modules will be base on a custom made cartridge board which have sd card reader mounted directly on it and a usb breakout for adding things I need. (Ex. for wireless hacking module I've a sd card flashed with kali linux and a high gain wifi antenna soldered to the usb pins).
I will be using 2x2000mah batteries for better running time.

Now to the interesting part, custom boards currently I'm planning:

Front board (Button board):
[spoiler="Features"]

• A B X Y SELECT START UP DOWN LEFT RIGHT button pads
• L/R button connectors
• Components for charliplexing - control all the buttons via 4 I/O port
• Mono amplifier
• Speaker and headphone jack connectors
• ̶5̶v̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶1̶2̶v̶ ̶v̶o̶l̶t̶a̶g̶e̶ ̶s̶t̶e̶p̶p̶e̶r̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶c̶a̶s̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶c̶r̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶m̶o̶d̶i̶f̶y̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶p̶o̶w̶e̶r̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶5̶v̶ Removed because I will use dpi to connect the screen!
• ̶4̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶t̶o̶n̶ ̶s̶c̶r̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶t̶r̶o̶l̶ ̶b̶r̶e̶a̶k̶o̶u̶t̶ Same as above
• 2 usb port for wifi and bluetooth
• Jumpers connect between backboard and front board

[/spoiler]
Backboard:
[spoiler="Features"]

• 54 pin FFC/FPC connector for screen
• Backlight module for screen
• Pi connector
• Battery connector x2
• Battery charge module
• Micro usb for charging (maybe debug as well in the future)
• Jumpers connect between backboard and front board
• ̶5̶v̶ ̶r̶e̶g̶u̶l̶a̶t̶o̶r̶
• Raspberry pi zero connector
• Audio filter for pi zero audio out
• ̶S̶t̶e̶r̶e̶o̶ ̶a̶u̶d̶i̶o̶ ̶a̶m̶p̶l̶i̶f̶i̶e̶r̶ Moved to frontboard!
• Volume control potentiometer
• Power switch ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶g̶r̶a̶c̶e̶f̶u̶l̶ ̶s̶h̶u̶t̶d̶o̶w̶n̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶p̶i̶
• 4 port usb hub module, with 2 ports connect to the front board, 1 port for external port and 1 to cartridge reader
• Cartridge reader

[/spoiler]
I will update this post when I have any progress

Update 2016.6.23

The boards I've arrived today!



Some side by side comparison with the old boards I made:



Still waiting for other components to come so I can assemble them and test them out

Update 2016.6.16

The boards have been shipped!
Will get them in about a week.
Here are some images:



I kinda messed up the front side a bit, the jumpers at the top I forgot to add the rectangle surrounding it, but it really doesn't matter since the only thing you can see after you install the board is the backside

Also made a stencil for it:

Update 2016.6.14

Finished the drawing for the cartridge reader:


Now I can start placing components on my backboard!

Update 2016.6.13
Finished the screen FFC 90 degrees adapter:

It will turn the FFC cable from the screen from straight down to going left:


I can add a custom length ffc cable to connect the screen and the backboard, without risking to break the cable on the screen this way

Update 2016.6.10

I finished the front board today and have sent them to the manufacturers, here's some rendered image of the board:



I choose white because I aren't really into the glossy black soldermask and mate black cost me an additional 25$ (That was just crazy ) So I go for white and it looks damn good in the rendering

The frontboard have a build-in mono amplifier and a module to handle all the buttons using charliplexing. Before I discover the beauty of charliplexing I was planning to connect each button individually to the backboard! With charliplexing I can really save a lot of space and GPIO pins

I'm working on the backboard now. Since it contains much more contents it will take a while for me to finish it can't wait to get the frontboard on hand!

[Rod2D2]

Hello guys!
I've made a post about my current build a while ago, and now I've decided that will be a prototype and I will be making a version 2 using all custom boards and provide more features compare to my version 1. Check my prototype v.1 as well!
Big thanks to @Kite for giving me the idea and providing me the template that require for making the boards! Check out his post: http://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=243

I will use a pi zero as the brain for this build. Pi zero is small enough so I don't have to sacrifice the cartridge slot, and no need to worried about overheating as well.
The goal for this build is not only building a gaming device, but also creating a modular hacking device that can easily swap function by switching between cartridges. Currently I'm planning to make a wireless hacking module and a RFID hacking module. Modules will be base on a custom made cartridge board which have sd card reader mounted directly on it and a usb breakout for adding things I need. (Ex. for wireless hacking module I've a sd card flashed with kali linux and a high gain wifi antenna soldered to the usb pins).
I will be using 2x2000mah batteries for better running time.

Now to the interesting part, custom boards currently I'm planning:

Front board (Button board):

• A B X Y SELECT START UP DOWN LEFT RIGHT button pads
• L/R button connectors
• Speaker and headphone jack connectors
• 5v to 12v voltage stepper in case the screen can't be modify to power with 5v
• 4 button screen control breakout
• 2 usb port for wifi and bluetooth
• Sitch

Backboard:

• Battery connector
• Battery charge module
• Micro usb for charging (maybe debug as well in the future)
• GPIO pins routed to the front board for buttons
• 5v regulator
• Raspberry pi zero connector
• Audio filter for pi zero audio out
• Stereo audio amplifier
• Volume control potentiometer
• Power switch with graceful shutdown for pi
• 4 port usb hub module, with 2 ports connect to the front board, 1 port for external port and 1 to cartridge reader
• Cartridge reader

I will update this post when I have any progress

Sounds great!!! Looking forward to seeing this one made.

[1461748123]

Update:
Today @Kite posted update on his build log showing that the tft screen can be drive directly through raw dpi using gpio pins, yeah! Now I can just get rid of the display driver board and pack everything into my custom board.
After doing some research, I found out that the normal DPI interface, 666vga, will use pin 18 and 19 which is the pwm pins. This means I can't use them as audio output anymore, I have to use a usb sound card instead.

My plan was to use a 4 port usb hub, and now I've to use 2 of them for buttons (cause DPI take most of the pins) and audio card, and I can't really sacrifice that.
So I do some more research I found out there are different modes for vga666, the default is mode 5 which uses BCM 18 and 19, but mode 6 doesn't! Problem solved!

Here are some reference: https://github.com/fenlogic/vga666/blob ... manual.pdf
Hope this will help someone out if they are planning to do something like me

[1461748123]

Update 2016.6.10

I finished the front board today and have sent them to the manufacturers, here's some rendered image of the board:



I choose white because I aren't really into the glossy black soldermask and mate black cost me an additional 25$ (That was just crazy ) So I go for white and it looks damn good in the rendering

The frontboard have a build-in mono amplifier and a module to handle all the buttons using charliplexing. Before I discover the beauty of charliplexing I was planning to connect each button individually to the backboard! With charliplexing I can really save a lot of space and GPIO pins

I'm working on the backboard now. Since it contains much more contents it will take a while for me to finish it can't wait to get the frontboard on hand!

[1461748123]

Update 2016.6.13
Finished the screen FFC 90 degrees adapter:

It will turn the FFC cable from the screen from straight down to going left:


I can add a custom length ffc cable to connect the screen and the backboard, without risking to break the cable on the screen this way

[1461748123]

Update 2016.6.13
Finished the screen FFC 90 degrees adapter:
It will turn the FFC cable from the screen from straight down to going left:

I can add a custom length ffc cable to connect the screen and the backboard, without risking to break the cable on the screen this way

Hey I think the adapter is neat, would be great if it could be made of that flexi stuff! One thing, I think your adapter actually ends up reversing the pins! So pin 1 becomes pin 54.. This is ok as long as you reverse the pins on your board, however you would then always have to use the adapter..

If you think about it, if you had the two flat cables on the desk, you would extend them by join the tip of one to the tip of the other, however your adapter has put them 'on top' of each other, but it needs to act like an extension cable.. Does that make sense?

EDIT: Maybe? I haven't had my coffee yet so I might actually be wrong, will need to double check, what do you think?

EDIT2: Yeah I think how it is currently it is reversing the pinout I did a paper based mockup and it would change pin 1 to 54 and vice versa

EDIT3: Also, you may need to be careful with the length difference of those traces.. the ones on the inside of the bend are considerably shorter than the ones on the outside.. because the signal is clocking at 9.6MHz, this actually has an effect! The screen is driven by the Pixel Clock, so whichever pin that is, as long as it is the longest, it should be ok.. otherwise as close to same length as possible (+-15mm is apparently ok).. also make sure there is a ground plane on the other side

Excuse the crummy drawing, but this would solve it, including the length problem

Yes I have think about using the method you have shown before.
But the thing is, adding via will make the trace's distance even closer, and since they will line up in a row I'm kind of worried that it will make the board really fragile.
And yes, with this design I won't be able to use the screen without the adapter, but, since the connector on the backboard with be 90 degrees I won't be able to use it without an adapter even if the pins isn't reverse, so I think it wont be a big deal Beside that, since the board is less than 5cmx5cm it cost me less than 10$ to make 12 of them, if there is any problem I can just make another batch without wasting that much money!

[natethegreat28]

can you make one for the gameboy pocket please

[1461748123]

can you make one for the gameboy pocket please

I wound only be able to do gameboy pocket version after I finish this project, and I don't have a gameboy pocket on hand

[natethegreat28]

contact me when you complete your project and we can work that out

[1461748123]

Update 2016.6.14

Finished the drawing for the cartridge reader:


Now I can start placing components on my backboard!